In a significant step for the conservation and protection of tigers, the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Y.adav, announced Monday that the Guru Ghasidas and Tamor Pingla tiger reserve in Chhattisgarh was designated as the 56th tiger reserve in India. The announcement was posted on social media platform ‘X’ by the minister, who highlighted India’s progress in tiger preservation efforts.
“India continues to achieve new milestones when it comes to tiger conservation. We have announced Guru Ghasidas Tamor Pingla as the 56th tiger reservation in Chhattisgarh.”
The Minister wrote in his post:
“The Guru Ghasidas Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve covers 2,829 sq. km.”
The Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve is situated across the Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur, Korea, Surajpur, and Balrampur districts of Chhattisgarh. It covers a total area 2,829.38 square kilometers, including a core or crucial tiger ecosystem of 2,049.2 km2, which includes the Guru Ghasidas National Park as well as the Tamor Pingla Wildlife Sanctuary. The reserve is complemented with a buffer area of 780.15 square kilometers, which provides crucial space for wildlife preservation and reduces human-wildlife conflicts in the region.
This makes it the third-largest tiger reserve in the country after the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve in Andhra Pradesh and the Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam. Chhattisgarh has four Tiger Reserves now, which further strengthens the state’s commitment towards wildlife conservation.
The Reserve will receive technical and monetary support from the National Tiger Conservation Authority. This authority has played a key role in the successful implementation.
The Government of Chhattisgarh on the advice of NTCA has officially designated this area as a Tiger Reserve. By doing so, they ensure the long-term conservation and management of important habitats.
The new reserve will boost local ecotourism, create jobs and encourage sustainable development, which will benefit both wildlife and local community. It is also expected that it will have a positive effect on the region’s water resources and biodiversity, as well as soil conservation. This will improve the environmental health of the surrounding area.
India is home to over 70 per cent of world’s tiger populations, and the addition Guru Ghasidas – Tamor Pingla Tiger Reserve strengthens India’s global leadership in tiger preservation.
